3/17/14

Dharma Talk, March 10, 2014: Swimming in the Dharma

As always, we start off the class with the Four Great Vows which fits in
very well with the lecture today. The Four Great Vows being: I vow to deliver innumerable
sentient beings; I vow to cut-off endless vexations; I vow to master limitless
approaches to Dharma and I vow to attain Supreme Buddhahood. These vows are very
powerful because they not only set the course on where we practice but they also
speak of our Mahayana practice completely that we put others before ourselves.
We use our idea of the development of Bodhicitta to deliver others before ourselves.
We put others’ concerns, problems, whatever issues others have, we make those
our concerns as well and to take care of others.

I was reading in this one particular book, Central Philosophy of Buddhism. It’s the study of the Madhyamaka system
but it's also a study of Mahayana practice. There was a particular passage that
came in here discussing the Paramita discipline and the perfection of the practice.
It related Sunyata
and Karuna.Now let
me have a quick quiz here; does anybody know what Sunyata means?

Student: Emptiness.

Gilbert: And Karuna? We talked
about this before.

Student: (inaudible)

Gilbert: Remember we talked about Metta
and Karuna. Metta meaning love, but Karuna is much more of an emphasis in
Mahayana. I can't say more than Metta but it embraces Karuna. Karuna being this
interest in the problems of others and the interest in resolving those problems
and this care of others - I vow to deliver innumerable sentient beings. A vow
to deliver others before ones’ self is the initial generation of the bodhi-heart
of a Bodhisattva. It's that first spark that gets everything going.

So we call that Bodhicitta
- this very strong interest in the welfare of others and the interest in
delivering other people from their suffering that they have. This is a main
emphasis in Mahayana as distinguished let's say from the Theravadins in terms
of how it began to be developed in the Madhyamaka system, the Yogacara system,
and the Abhidharma; all those fusing together to develop this wonderful concept
of Sunyata– thatthere's no
difference between others in one part and also Karuna which is very very critical to the practice. It is not just simply
Shunyata – this emptiness of all things, but there's this other aspect of it;
this Karuna which is the self-nature of mind.

Without it, then the idea of
emptiness would be empty like an empty glass. Emptiness does not indicate an
emptiness like an empty glass, but an emptiness that there's no differentiation
between anything - there isno “any thing.” It negates that kind of idea but without negating the heart.
That’s critical and it's difficult because we need to transcend conceptualizations
that occur in mind via the consciousness in order for us to get to the point
where the heart remains, but emptiness is actualized.

It's difficult to say it with words but that's the critical part. It is
the part where we talk about that there is the Eight-fold Path but there's
actually Ten-fold, which nine is this is perfected wisdom and ten, the ultimate
actualization of this enlightenment that occurs, this bodhi that arises from
all of these . When we say arises, again that's a poor term to use because it
just essentially is realized. You can't say again perfected but you could say
the mind is without obstruction. When the mind is without obstructions, this
incredible transcendent wisdom illuminates everything. All Dharma realms is
illuminated; that's the Dharmakaya.

So when it is seen in that way, that’s the Sambokaya; and the appearances of the Buddhas in the world, is the Mahakaya. All of these things are incredible
concepts that come in. When we try to talk about them in abstract, we lose the
essence of it. But when we try to open the heart, we see all that; it works
altogether. This is very difficult for some people to think about it. Sometimes
they think this is too deep or this is something that “I will wait till I
practice for 20 years.” Why, why not dare to do that now? Why not try to look
into it, to try to change what appear to be abstract and difficult concepts
into a realization of mind?

Why not do that? It’s possible. All I'm doing is setting out the
guidepost where one works within to be able to do that. Let’s get to the text:

With the Buddhas as his ideal the Bodhisattva aims at Bodhi,
and undertakes the discipline for it (bodhicittotpada).

So if one wants to become a
Buddha, as a bodhisattva, then we start developing this Bodhi-mind. And what is
the Bodhi-mind? It is this initial generation to deliver others before ones’ self.
That's why I always start our classes out with this because it's critical to
our study. It is critical to our practice.

Sunyata and Karuna are the two principal features of the
Bodhicitta.

As I was talking a moment ago, these are essential; not one without the
other. Karuna is far beyond the idea
of let's say sentient being compassion. It is far beyond it because in sentient
being compassion, we may feel sorry for this person and that person and that
person, but other people we don't know we don't have any opinion about or it
may be somebody we don't like, like Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden (not to
pick on certain groups), we’re not going to extend that compassion. Or let's
say in this culture, it would be hard for us to say we like those people in our
minds and we've been conditioned to wish them to hell. It's difficult for us to
do that with this sentient being compassion where there are limitations to it.

But when we don't have that sentient being compassion and we have Karuna, we see the causes and conditions
that bring forth why somebody is let's say a murderer, or a sexual child
molester, or it could be somebody that likes to pick on other people, or somebody
who's very greedy, we see these things and we see that from the viewpoint of pity
that this person is ignorant as to what they're causing to themselves and to
the people around them because they're affecting the mind-ground with all of this.

So a Bodhisattva sees that; reflected in mind, illuminated in wisdom,
understands it. And then this Bodhisattva sets into motion actions which can
assist in alleviating that type of suffering little by little. They don't see
it in the short run; they see it in the long run. They see it as ultimately
belonging and the conviction of being in Sunyata
and enables a Bodhisattva to see in that way without limitations, without
restrictions from time and space, to be able to think beyond conception and to
operate in this type of a zone where when you see people, you greet them and
understand that that greeting is important even if it's a teller somewhere. It
could be something very slight but it's all connected and you vow to deliver
them before yourself. It could be to a stranger, to a dog, to whatever it is,
you become connected with all of it like they had the concept of Indra’s Net
of this connection of all these mirrors reflecting everything. In this way, one
is navigating the world.

Sunyata is prajna, intellectual intuition, and is
identical with the Absolute.

The absolute is just being the Buddha, the mind, the self-nature of mind.
So the idea of Sunyata, or you could
say Paticcasamuppada - causes and conditions never fail, that is not other than
mind. If you did one of those mathematical equations where let’s say the
absolute is equal to Paticcasamuppada,
is equal to Sunyata, is equal to the Tathāgatagarbha, it’s allequal. There's nothing outside of any
of those that is an “A” or a “B;” all of those are there. And because they're
all equal, then there's no other equation. It just is. It's not Sunyata plus Karuna.
These are the flip side of the same coin. Sunyata is the wisdom; Karuna is the
actualization of that wisdom, the manifestation of that wisdom within the
Dharma realm.

Karuna is the active principle of compassion that gives
concrete expression to Sunyata in phenomena.

This is kind of like you could say the yeast with the dough but all of
it is the bread. But the yeast is the thing that gets it all bubbling and
moving and brings it into fruition. Without that yeast, it would not be bread; it
would not rise. I just thought of that comparison so hopefully it will work. And
it says this is the active principle of compassion that gives concrete
expression to Sunyata in phenomena, meaning it is the reflection of the
absolute, the demonstration of the absolute. And when we see in that way, we
see things in the right way.

I remember that I was writing to one person from New York and we talked
about a similar subject and said I hope to go back there again and that person
said, “I hope you come back to demonstrate Sunyata again.” So it means they got
it - that it was in action that yeast was the thing that got it all bubbling
and moving and active with it. That's the critical aspect of it. Without that,
Sunyata would just be an empty can. There would be nothing there. We talked
about that before in saying that it is not nihilistic but now, I'm kind of
adding a bit of another dimension to it that I never emphasized before and
linked it together. When I read this passage, then it made sense to me of how
this works.

I'll tell you how that happened. As my mother was passing away, I was
doing recitation for her. I just kept doing recitation, recitation, recitation.
One night I couldn't sleep so I sat up on the bed doing recitation, recitation.
And then I said, “There are those who don't have a son to do recitations for
them and they are dying so I will do recitation for them.” So I started doing
recitation for them. “There are those that are dying that no one even knows they
are dying,” and I do recitation for them. And I continued expanding, expanding
until there was nothing to include. And in that moment, I had a realization of
this emptiness - this vast, wonderful, clear, quiet, enormous and wondrous
emptiness.

But it wasn't the emptiness of a dead water. Even in the crystal-clear
water, it is active. When I saw it in that way, I was clear. The next day, I
read this passage and I was going, “That was what I was looking for!” The night
before, the yeast was really moving it. And when I read this passage, it became
clear; that's why I want to share it with you. Seeing it in this way is a
different way than just simply seeing it and saying this is this book, or this
person, or Murphy doesn’t know what he's talking about. Quite to the contrary,
it has nothing to do with Murphy; it has to do with the heart and how one sees
things and how one enables their mind to expand until there's no further
expansion; there's nothing to expand to or to contract to.

If the first is transcendent and looks to the Absolute,
the second is fully immanent and looks down towards phenomena.

If one says there's a car, it's the transmission that’s moving it. It's
immanent it's directly in sync with everything there. All the gears are moving
together and one is aware of it. Whether one is there or not, nevertheless the gears
are moving and all we're doing is shifting it into a better gear, and that is Karuna.

The first is the abstract universal reality of which no
determinations can be predicated; it is beyond the duality of good and evil,
love and hatred, virtue and vice; the second is goodness, love and pure act;
Sunyata is potential, Karuna is the realized state.

It is very interesting because I once heard some physicists talk about
the idea of anti-matter. They had weighed the universe and realized that it was
short and the part that was short was this anti-matter which is that which
could come into existence. It's very interesting that that's the kind of like
this interplay between this emptiness of the mind and Karuna which brings forth
actualization within the mind itself.

Buddha and the Bodhisattva, who models himself on him, are thus amphibious
beings with one foot in the Absolute and the other in phenomena.

This was an interesting thing because Shifu, Master Sheng-yen, used to always
say “You know, we’re always swimming in the Dharma” and he puts his arms out like
this just like as if he was swimming. He really have these long long arms and
long fingers and he's going like that, “We’re all swimming all day” and he's
playing this tune but the people didn't understand what tune he was playing. He
was just smiling and laughing to himself but we’re swimming in it all the time.
We’re always swimming in it and he's talking about we’re swimming in this Emptiness but it's that motion that we’re
swimming that counts. It’s the Karuna and so it's really interesting when
one looks at things in that way and you begin to see.

It is funny because when I saw this word “amphibious,” I’m going “Wow!”
like “yeah, he got it” - these amphibious beings with one foot in Absolute and
the other in phenomena. And the idea is that we don't negate the absolute or
say that it is the absolute. The absolute also holds the phenomena and vice
versa; within the phenomena is the absolute. Again if everything is equal to equal
to equal, there is no other phenomena. So it all comes into play. Whatever we do,
whatever we say is a product of mind. The only difference is that when one uses
transcendent wisdom, what comes out of their mouth, what they think, what their
body does, is not for the sake of self but for the sake of all sentient beings.

They are virtuous and good and the source of all goodness
in the world. The bodhicitta is a unique blend of Intellect and Will.

When they're saying intellect and will here, I would change that a
little bit. I give a little bit of slack to the author here. It's really not
intellect with respect to intellect as an intellectual, it’s as much as
transcendent wisdom - how things work. It is the ability to be able to
understand why phenomena arises; whether it's mental formations or in some
physical phenomena that we see. That understanding is transcendent wisdom. The
will is really the vow, what we set into motion. If we don't have a vow, then
we set into motion the ignorance and no transcendent wisdom.

The Mahayana texts cannot praise the Bodhicitta too
highly. It is the foundation of all good, the source of all endeavour, the
refuge of all beings, a veritable treasure. As the one secure foundation for
the happiness of all beings and the one remedy for their sufferings, it is
immeasurable in its purity and goodness.

This is what arose out of this Mahayana practice was this incredible
concept of Bodhicitta which wraps all the other concepts altogether. It's
touching on all those and emphasizing at the same time. This is what Buddha is
and what a Buddha does and why Buddhas appear in the world. So it makes more
sense as we look at it and say “okay, this is how we see things” and to see
them clearly. It also brings us right back directly into taking responsibility
for our own actions.

So we don't have to be Buddhist per se to be able to understand this and
say “Take responsibility for it!” Stop blaming God! You know, “why did this
happen to me?” You know, someone is trying to start a car and going, “God,
please don't let this happen to me right now!” And then what happens? The car starts,
“Brooom!! broom!!” And he goes, “Praise the Lord!” (laughs…) Hey, buy a new battery!
(more laughs…)

It is not to be thought that the Bodhicitta is a preparation for some
unworldly ideal having no relevance to the problems of the present-day world. Even
in this world its influence is very great; as the basis of all altruism, it
makes for social solidarity and happy human relationship.

That's what Master Sheng-yen was all about in terms of talking about his
plans for this world, creating a Pureland on Earth and uplifting humanity; that
we should have wholesome thoughts, wholesome deeds, and wholesome actions in what
we do and we dispel unwholesome thoughts and don't give rise to unwholesome
thoughts. It's a very plain and easy practice.

Bodhicitta is usually spoken of as into two stages of
development. One is a preparatory stage wherein the devotee makes great
resolves, and defines his ideal to attain complete Buddhahood. The next stage
is the actual starting on the journey towards that goal - the practice of the paramitas.
The former is called bodhi pranidhi citta (citta being mind) and the latter
being bodhi prasthana citta.

At the beginning of his career a Bodhisattva makes the Great
Resolves (maha-prahidhana), usually before a Spiritual Guide (Kalyana-mitra), about
his intention and endeavor. The Mahayana treatises give the number as ten or twelve.
The chief ones are that the Bodhisattva would help all beings in their
spiritual endeavor; “that his unlimited knowledge and means (prajnopaya) be of
unending service to beings; that all being should, leaving the inferior path
(sravaka [one who hears the words of the Buddha] and prayetka-buddhayana [who
don’t study per se but come into it through their own individual practice]),
take to the Mahayana path of supreme enlightenment; that beings following my
discipline be firm in their virtue and they not be born in evil state; that
beings afflicted by various diseases, but helpless and poor, be cured of their diseases” etc.

The
importance of these Great Resolves cannot be overestimated. They set the goal
of a Bodhisattva very clearly before him all the time. They give unerring and
unfailing direction to him in his spiritual career. The resolve itself acts as
an accelerating force in his progress and counteracts unspiritual tendencies. Man
becomes what he wills.

This is important because when one begins to understand that we’re
responsible for body, speech, and mind, it's a great key because it enables us
to realize that we can use this power of the mind in a positive way. Sometimes
we go around and I call it the Eeyore-mentality from Winnie the Pooh: “Nobody
loves me; everybody hates me; it’s going to be a bad day today,” you know. When you can get in this Eeyore-mentality, they
can eat you alive. It really can and it's easy to get into it; all you’ve got to
do is live, because no matter what, there is going to be something that happens;
whether your car is not starting, your
husband is not starting, your wife is not starting, whatever it is you know,
kids not starting. It's different things; it’s always something.

But it’s how we make of it and how we deal with the situation that makes
us practitioners. It's not an inoculation against all bad things and we’re not
like the proverbial ostrich hiding our head in the sand saying, “I didn't see
it, I don't feel it; I don't do this; I don't do that. No, you feel it and you
see it. You do it and you deal with it. That is what Shifu said, “You look at
it; figure it out; deal with it; put it down. That is as easy as you could say
what a Buddhist practitioner does.

He is not moulded by circumstances; he moulds the
circumstances.

This is important. One of the most powerful persons that I ever met was Master
Sheng-yen because he brought into motion hundreds of thousands of people
without ever lifting a finger. He moulded the circumstances and us and our
little microcosms of the world to the same.

Spiritual realization is a growth from within, self-creating
and self- determining. It is not too much to say that the nature of the resolve
determines the nature of the final attainment, like to seed determining the
plant. The seed of Buddhahood is sown in the initial vow that Bodhisattva makes.
The entire later discipline is the cultivation and preservation of this.

We’ll stop right there. I think that was enough to talk to you about and
I think what it did was service a really good way of coming back to some of the
basic things that we are talking about last year and putting them all together
and saying “This is what we're talking about.” This is what this is, so even if
you don't remember any of what we're talking about, or the words, you will remember
it from your heart.

The thing that I can say and I am very happy to say about our group and Dharma
Drum in general, is it works. I think that that is something that is fantastic.
It's not something that we wait around to become enlightened and then start
doing things. Each of us can share what they know. Shifu used to say that a
person who's never eaten pork but it smelled it, at least could tell somebody
else what pork smells like and that is something.

So in our way we help each other by telling them what we know. We don't
have to go beyond that but we don't have to be afraid to do that either.
Sometimes we’re afraid to expound upon that to others because of the fact that
maybe we’re not certified or we’re not this or we’re not that. But I don't
think that was the meaning of that; in terms of the formal class maybe, but in
your everyday life you certainly can do that. If Lety’s mother can teach the
Dharma on the phone to her friends, then anybody can teach it. They can teach
what they know.